Perry’s Office Clarifies Governor’s Role in Budget Process

Mark Miner, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry, called and said that he thought I had misconstrued the Governor’s role in the budget debate so far.

Miner said that Perry had been “involved in the budget negotiations from the beginning of this session.” He said that involvement included weekly meetings with House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst as well as private meetings with other members on budget matters.

Miner also took issue with the statement that Perry had recorded robocalls for Michael Quinn Sullivan’s Empower Texas and had implicitly backed the House budget over the Senate budget.

“It’s not accurate to say [Perry’s] supported one budget over the other,” Miner said.

Perry made his support for the House’s supplemental budget bill, which drew on the Rainy Day Fund to close the gap in the 2010-2011 budget, contingent upon a promise from House leaders that they would not draw additional money from the Rainy Day Fund for the 2012-2013 budget.

House leaders obliged but that didn’t stop the Senate from passing out a bill that took an additional $800 million out of the Rainy Day Fund to help pay for education. That proposal was dead on arrival in the House. Without political cover from the Governor, which he hasn’t show any intention of granting, there was not the political will in the House to risk the consequences of going back to the Rainy Day Fund.

Furthermore, Gov. Rick Perry has participated in telephone town-halls put on by Michael Quinn Sullivan’s Empower Texans, a group that was fiercely critical of the Senate’s budget proposals because they spent significantly more than the budget passed by the House. During those phone conferences, Perry spoke about the importance of balancing the state budget within the currently available revenue and without touching the Rainy Day Fund. Chronicle/Express-News reporter Gary Scharrer wrote that the governor lent his voice to a robocall that was sent out by the group.

Perry is offering the following message:

“Good evening. This is Governor Rick Perry, and I’m sorry I missed you.

Texans elected a Republican super-majority to cut wasteful government spending – not to raise taxes or grow government.

But right now, some are pressuring lawmakers to do just that.

Your voice is needed in Austin. But your voice can only be heard if you are engaged. Please make sure your legislator knows where you stand.

You can learn more about being an engaged citizen by visiting EmpowerTexans.com